February 24, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

New Shepherd, New Exodus

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Loving Lord, I stand in awe before You. The majesty of the earth, the mystery of Your grace, continue to astound me.

Read Jeremiah 23:1-8

[1] “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. [2] Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD. [3] “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. [4] I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD. [5] “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. [6] In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior. [7] “So then, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ [8] but they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Think of the ways God has worked to bring you into his fold and keep you there. Thank him for the final ingathering of his flock.

Judah will be scattered among the nations. The people were to be blamed, but the shepherds (kings, priests, prophets) were also responsible. If they had done their ministry faithfully and guided the flock effectively, the humiliating exile would not be necessary. God expresses his disappointment with the shepherds and promises to shepherd the flock himself (“I myself,” 3). He would bring back the scattered remnant to his holy land and establish peace and security.

The prophecy is given that David’s “righteous Branch” will arise to be the wise King who will shepherd God’s people (5). He will be called “the Lord our righteous Savior” (6)–a divine name. Subsequent history and Scripture tell us that this refers to Jesus Christ (e.g. Rom. 3:21,22; 1 Cor. 1:30). The promise of the triune God, that he would personally shepherd his people, was fulfilled when Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Here we learn many things: the divinity of Jesus, the faithfulness of God in keeping his promises and his personal care of his sheep.

There are rudimentary details about the future; when Christ came things would become clearer. The exiles of Judah did return from their Babylonian captivity in the sixth century, but this event would pale in comparison to the great ingathering under Christ–not only of Judah but of all those who by faith in him would constitute the true Israel–from every nation and generation (Matt. 24:31). Whatever our current circumstances, we can take comfort in the unchanging and sure promises of God. The Exodus from Egypt was a preview, the return of the exiles was a rehearsal. Pentecost (with its gathered Jews) was part one, and the ingathering at the end of history would be the grand finale. Hallelujah!

Apply

In this difficult chapter of Israel’s history, hope was still shining. How does hope shine for you?

Closing prayer

Father God, my Shepherd and my Lord, I thank You that You give me the gift of hope when all seems dark around me.

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